The Netherlands is an attractive country for foreign dentists who want to start a new career. One of the reasons why it’s so popular among dentists is the high quality of dental care that our country offers. Dentists work together with a dental assistant, clinics offer a broad range of general dental treatments, and there is a high number of patients, since Dutch people regularly visit the dentist.
This high quality of dentistry is partly explained by the attention and emphasis on extra training & refresher courses for dentists. It is expected of dentists that they keep their dental knowledge up-to-date to maintain a high quality in the field. This is being stimulated by dental clinics but also by other dentistry related organizations. In the future, these refresher courses will even be a condition for re-registration in the BIG register.
We would like to give you a glimpse into the possibilities of developing your professional dental career as a dentist in Holland. We have selected interesting organizations in the Netherlands that will help you stay up-to-date about the latest developments in dentistry.
Post-academic education
At the dental universities of The Netherlands that are located in Groningen, Amsterdam and Nijmegen, you can find a wide range of post-academical education, such as 1-day or several days courses to congresses, but also specializations, investigation and doctorate programs.
- Rijksuniversiteit Groningen. You can find more information here.
- Amsterdam, ACTA. You can find more information here.
- Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen. You can find more information here.
N.B.: For more information about the different specializations and differentiations in The Netherlands, please check our article ‘Specializations and differentiations in Dentistry’.
KNMT
The Royal Dutch Dental Association (KNMT) is the professional association for dentists, oral surgeons and orthodontists in the Netherlands. This professional association promotes the terms and conditions under which their members can provide high-quality dental care. They also offer many courses and webinars about topics mostly focused on communication and personal development in dental clinics.
You can find more information about the courses they offer here.
NTVT
The NTVT is scientific platform where you can have paper and digital access to articles with the latest insights in oral care, peer-reviewed knowledge tests, e-learnings and podcasts.
KRT
The KRT is a quality register for dentists. When enrolled in the KRT, they will register the extra training & refresher courses you have followed. For every hour you’re expanding your expertise (working on your professional development) through courses, you will receive a so called KRT credit. To be enrolled, you have to gain a minimum of 36 credits a year. Through this system, the KRT is encouraging dentists to actively focus on expanding their knowledge. This register is also available to patients and thereby provides insight into the quality of dentists and the time they invest in their professional development.
The KRT also provides a calendar with all KRT certified dental courses from different organizations.
An enrollment in the KRT is of high importance for many dental clinics. While it is not always obligated by your employer, it is always highly valued.
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As you can see there is plenty of choice to keep on developing your professional dental career in Holland.
We advise our dentists to keep a separate yearly budget to spend on your own development to be able to profit from all these institutions have to offer.
At BGB Dentistry, it’s of high importance that you get the most out of your dental career and therefore we’ll do whatever it takes to stimulate and support this. Danielle and Rita (our dentist advisors) can guide you with finding the refresher courses that suit your needs or help you start a specialization if that’s your ambition. You can also view our event page for upcoming courses.
